Hermione has a crush!
by vixevilcat7
Summary: Hermione likes Scabior. Scabior likes Hermione. Hermione hates Scabior's girlfriend, Fleur. Scabior doesn't know if Hermione is legal yet. Hermione's brother, Harry, his boyfriend Ron and Ron's brothers Fred and George decide to rock the boat and get the two of them together! Hilarity Ensues. AU. No magic, all muggle.
1. Chapter 1

Hermione has a crush!

Hermione likes Scabior. Scabior likes Hermione. Hermione hates Scabior's girlfriend, Fleur. Scabior doesn't know if Hermione is legal yet. Hermione's brother Harry, his boyfriend Ron and Ron's brothers, Fred and George decide to rock the boat and get the two of them together! Hilarity Ensues! AU. No magic, all muggles.

Hermione watched Scabior smile at Fleur. She was totally wrong for him. He was a bad boy deep down. He had cleaned his act up for that snooty huzzy. He had even stopped hanging out with his friends, dropped baseball and joined the soccer team, for fucks sake! He was not a soccer player, never mind that he was smoking hot, shirtless. But he'd been even hotter in the baseball uniform!

She tried not to let her mind dwell on him, after all, he WAS four years older than her and already in college. She had her fair share of boys her own age trailing after her but somehow, she just wasn't interested in them.

"Hey, Hermione, come on. We're going to play some miniature golf." Harry coaxed. Her adopted brother was always looking out for her. Funny, really, when you thought about it, because he was actually a year younger than her. Her parents had adopted him out of an abusive home.

"I don't know if I'm really in the mood for golf, Harry." Hermione sighed. Harry followed her gaze. He grinned wickedly at her, then glanced at his boyfriend, Ron. He nodded at Scabior, then pointedly looked at Ron's twin brothers. He smirked, then wiggled his eyebrows. Ron glanced at his brothers, Scabior and back at Harry as he snorted with laughter.

Hermione went back to watching him, covertly she thought as she hid behind a book. Suddenly Scabior turned and looked right at her. She gasped as her book slid out of her hands. He grinned as he raised his hand and waved at her. She blushed as she waved back.

Unfortunately, Fleur turned and caught him looking and her waving. She shoved at him and started bitching at him. He rolled his eyes, threw his hands up in the air and shook his head. She stood up and slammed her bag down. She and three of her friends walked out, evidently going to the restroom.

When they came back, it was clear her friends had managed to calm her down. She walked up to him, leaned down and whispered in his ear. He looked up sulkily and stood to go. As they passed Hermione's group on the way out the door, he glanced down at her and winked, a little smile just barely curling the corners of his mouth up.

She remembered how he used to be, before he hooked up with that huzz. He'd had a small piercing right at the corner of his mouth. He'd delighted in wearing all his shirts sleeveless, showing off his tattoos. Now she was lucky to even get a small glimpse of them. His hair had stayed wild and windblown.

He had been goth, the same as Hermione and Harry. It was seeing him dressed in all black, chains and all, that had inspired her to go goth. His perfectly lined eyes, black hair and black leather clothes had made him the perfect boy to her. Every time she'd seen him, she'd just wanted to grab the chains bracketing his hips, pull him close to her and never let him go.

Now his hair was always perfectly combed, lightened up to its original dark brown and you never saw even a touch of makeup on his face. He was still gorgeous to her though, but she knew there was very little chance of a goth girl like her stealing him from his homecoming queen girlfriend. She smiled sadly at him as he walked on by.

Harry punched her arm to get her attention. "Earth to Hermione! Are we going after him or not!" she blinked at Harry. "What?"

Harry pointed outside. "Do you want him or not? Ron and the twins have been dying to rag on her forever. Especially after she broke it off with Bill to get with Marcus Flint! Who the hell goes from an awesome guy like Bill to a troll like Marcus?!"

"Harry! You almost sound like you're crushing on Bill! Are you?" she watched as Harry blushed, blood red. "Harry! Why didn't you tell me? You know I won't rat you out!" she hugged Harry as he grinned sheepishly.

"He'd never look at a guy, Hermione, you know that. Besides, me and Ron are awesome together as well. You know I'd never hurt Ron like that!" he glanced lovingly over at his boyfriend, conversing with his older twin brothers. "Anyway,,,,we're not talking about me, we're trying to get you with YOUR dream guy, you know you want him!"

"It'll never work, Harry, whatever you do. There's no way he'd leave her for me. Even less chance that she'd LET him leave her. She likes to be the one who breaks things off, remember?" Hermione looked at him sadly. Harry was stunned that she honestly didn't know!

"Hermione, he likes you. Every time he sees you, he flirts with you. She bitches him out over you all the time! I heard some of his friends asking him why she was constantly bitching at him. He'd leave her in a minute if he thought he had a chance with you! The only reason he hasn't made a move on you is because he's afraid you're not eighteen." Harry let that one sink in. Hermione's eyes widened.

"He,, he doesn't know I'm already eighteen?" she laid a hand over her heart. It was racing like crazy at the thought of him liking her. "But why are we going after them right now?"

"Because, Hermione." Harry turned her to look out just as Scabior took Fleur into the mini golf shop across the street. She smiled and laughed out loud. Suddenly she was eager to play some mini golf.

They jumped up, grabbed Ron and the twins and headed across the street. The twins were already telling them to distract him and the snoot while they worked their trick. 'Distract him? How?' her mind blanked out completely. She froze. Harry and Ron stepped forward. Fleur was standing at the register and Scabior was very carefully pretending he hadn't just seen Hermione walk in and stop dead in her tracks. Ron walked to the register, rudely bumping into Fleur like he didn't see her.

"Oh, hey, long time no see, fancy that. How's Marcus doing these days? Oh, wait, you're not WITH him anymore, are you? Hope this guy knows the score." Ron greeted Fleur sarcastically. While he was yakking, the twins were switching some of the golf balls with trick balls. They hadn't tried them yet but the man at Spencer's told them the golf balls were a big hit. Fleur huffed angrily at Ron, snatched the bucket without looking and stormed away. Scabior reluctantly began to follow her. Right as he drew even of Harry, the teen grabbed his arm. "Just wanted to give you a heads up. My sister IS eighteen now." Harry grinned slyly at him. Scabior widened his eyes in surprise.

Michael Scabior had noticed the girl as soon as he and Fleur walked into the ice cream shop. Fortescue's made the absolute BEST strawberry milkshakes ever. It was the only thing he missed about going away to college. Well, that and his older half-brother, Fenrir Grey.

It was the same girl who lived down the block from him. She'd lived there for six years. He'd practically watched the little thing grow up. He wasn't sure if she was eighteen or not and, damn, it was killing him! She was so cute dressed in her little black miniskirts. She hadn't started wearing black until she and the little boy next door started hanging out together. The boy lived right beside him. From the screams and shouts heard from his house, the little boy hadn't had it any better than he did.

Fleur Delacour was merely a distraction. He'd heard too many stories about her to take anything she said very seriously. If he knew that little girl was legal, damned if he wouldn't drop Fleur like a hot potato! Only problem was, she was just so tiny! How could anyone be that petite and be legal age? It was one reason why he was staying away from her. The only thing with dating Fleur, though, was giving up baseball, Goth and having to pretend to enjoy playing soccer, god forbid!

He was in college on a scholarship so he had to mind his p's and q's. That meant, much as he hated to, dressing normally and keeping his grades up. The old man would beat the fuck out of him if he lost his scholarship. It meant HE would have to start acting like he had a son, paying his sons college bill instead of depending on the government to send him to school.

He had come home for the week, not because he wanted to, but this week was special. It was Fen's birthday in a couple of days. He might not enjoy his own birthday parties but damned if he was going to miss his brother's birthday! It was weird that Fen's mother would welcome him, considering that Michael's mother had basically been the reason she was divorced, but the woman was constantly having Fen bring him over to see her. If they were out in public, she always introduced both of them as her children!

Fleur was a girl he'd dated off and on for a couple of years, in his last years of high school. He'd heard how she tended to treat her boyfriends. She was basically the female version of a womanizer. She dated them, strung them along for weeks or even months. She stayed with them just long enough to give them hope of being 'the one who bagged' Fleur Delacour. Then, when she was bored with them, she dumped them and moved on. She tended to have her next one already lined up and waiting before she got rid of the current one.

She was between guys and he had nothing better to do. So she invited him to the ice cream shop and mini golf. Of course, being Fleur, naturally she got jealous when she saw him flirting with the little beauty. Her friends were quick to haul her off to the bathroom and remind her that she wasn't actually dating him. He was just an in-the-moment guy. She came back, ready to go on to golf and, damnit, he still hadn't had his damn milkshake yet!

He got to wink at the little beauty before they were out the door. He and Fleur walked across to the golf shop and she went to pay her admission. He didn't really care about golf but this was one place that he'd been able to bond with Fen at. Fen's first job had been night watchman here, he'd delighted in sneaking Michael and his friends in here to play golf anytime they wanted to.

As he stood there, waiting for Fleur, a ginger walked by and walked into her, purposely he was sure. He thought the boy looked familiar. When he saw the dark haired boy, he knew without looking, SHE would be there. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched her walk in, look at him and freeze. He heard Ron yakking at Fleur and glanced over in time to see two older gingers fiddling with some of the golf balls in Fleur's bucket. She grabbed them without checking and walked away. He hesitated, then followed her. As he passed the dark haired teen, the boy shocked him. "Just wanted to give you a heads up. My sister is eighteen." The boy grinned slyly at him. 'DAMN!'

As he was still reeling from that little shocker, he noticed them getting ready to play golf, too. He smiled as he realized they would be with them all through the course, unless they got a shot and Fleur didn't. Then they'd be ahead of them. He glanced back. 'Yep, she had on one of those flirty, little, black miniskirts again.' He decided he very well might enjoy this game of golf.

They came to the first hole and Fleur got ready for her shot. He wondered why the twins had been fiddling with the balls and whether he should warn her. As she tapped the ball and it rolled directly to the hole, he decided it must have been his imagination. They moved on as Hermione's group set their shot up. As Fleur was about to swing, one of the twins had snuck up behind her. He yelled in the loudest voice possible, "FORE!" she screamed and flung her club. Michael burst out laughing. 'Brilliant!'

He remembered now why these gingers were so familiar. Fleur had dated and dumped their oldest brother. That wouldn't have been so bad but she'd actually let him propose to her, accepted and then never showed up at the altar. The next day, she'd been making out with Marcus Flint in the hallway at school like nothing was wrong. Last he heard, the dude was down and out, drinking himself into the ground. Evidently, some of his family had decided some payback was necessary.

He was still chuckling as she retrieved her club. Checking behind her to make no other ginger were there, she lined up her shot and swung. As she hit the ball, it exploded into a cloud of white dust. His eyes widened. "Damn, Fleur, how hard did you hit the damn thing?!" Fleur had shrieked again and jumped back in shock.

"I didn't! I hit it just like I normally would! I don't know what happened!" Fleur stared at the vanishing white cloud that used to be a golf ball.

Behind them, he could hear suppressed laughter. Now he KNEW it wasn't his imagination. They had missed with the balls but he wasn't going to say a word. This was the same kind of tricks he and his friends used to pull whenever Fen had a girlfriend they didn't like. He just wanted to see how far they would take it.

Fleur seemed to approach the bucket more reluctantly now. She picked one up, squeezed it and seemed to decide it was safe. He looked at the balls and thought he could figure out which ones were still there. Fleur lined up another shot and tapped it gently. The ball rolled down and dropped into the hole. She sighed in relief. He shook his head at her. "Come on, Fleur, move it along. You're holding up the line and I still need my milkshake."

Fleur looked at him. "Seriously, that's all you can say?"

"What should I be saying?" he shrugged.

"They messed with my bucket! Are you not going to report them?!" she snapped.

He snorted at her. "Why? I'm not the one playing. You're the one who wanted to play, remember? I just wanted to go to Fortescue's."

Fleur huffed. "Aaarrrgh! They better not have done anything else to this bucket or I WILL report them." She yelled behind them. Michael smiled as he heard more sniggers. 'The damn little twerps knew she hadn't used all the trick balls yet!'

The twins ran through and headed on up to the next hole. Harry led Ron and Hermione into the current hole. They lined up a shot but Hermione took it this time. She stretched her arms above her head, loosening up for the shot. This caused her little black tank top to rise slightly above the waistband of her skirt. Michael crossed his arms and bit the knuckles of his right hand. 'She was right in front of him, she had to have known what seeing that would do to him!' it was all he could do to not pick her up, throw her over his shoulder and find the nearest empty room. He'd have her up against the wall before she could even say his name! She glanced over her shoulder at him and smiled. 'Oh, the little vixen KNEW what she was doing to him!'

Fleur was staring at her with narrowed eyes. "Take your shot, sweetie. You're holding up the line."

Hermione turned and swung without checking the shot. It rolled right into the hole. She smiled smugly at Fleur. Harry and Ron were chuckling at her and cheered loudly as they headed her toward the next course.

Fleur sighed angrily as she picked up her bucket and followed the teens. Michael gave himself a moment to breathe before he followed them. He almost wished now he hadn't worn such a tight, worn out pair of jeans. On the other hand, all she'd have to do was look down to see what kind of effect she was having on him.

Going into the next clearing, he heard giggling and looked down just in time to avoid stepping on a marshmallow. Laughing softly as he gently kicked a path clear, he looked over as Fleur squealed angrily. Her shoes were basically coated with squashed marshmallows. Ron lined up the next shot and took it as they effectively moved into the lead past Fleur. She grabbed one of the regular balls and got her next shot as well.

Moving on, he could see a pattern developing. Harry always took first shot, Hermione would take the second and Ron would finish up. Making the most of that pattern, they were rapidly finishing the course. Fleur took the next ball out of her bucket and lined up a shot. Michael's lips twitched as he noticed it was a trick ball. He moved a small distance away from her. She swung and the ball exploded again, this time into water vapors. She screamed and threw her club down. He was bent double, laughing at her.

"Those beasts! They did it again!" she yelled.

"How do you know they did anything? When did they do it?" Michael asked reasonably. Fleur was unable to answer but she knew those little hellions were responsible! Some people just could not leave well enough alone!

With relief, Michael noticed they were almost to the end of the course. Now that he knew what was going on, he knew the last two tricks to watch for. Fleur again picked a regulatory ball and easily sank it. One more hole and she'd be caught back up to them. She pulled one of the trick balls again.

If he wasn't mistaken, this would be either the streamers or the off center ball. She swung and almost fainted as the ball exploded into multicolored streams of ribbon. Michael paced over to where he could just see their group and wagged his finger at them, laughing. The boys were on the ground, laughing, and she blew him a kiss, then giggled.

Fleur stomped her foot angrily. "You are not helping matters! You are just encouraging them!"

"Lighten up, Fleur, it's just a game and the tricks are harmless." He told her.

"Maybe for you, they're harmless. Do you know how many times I've practically jumped out of my skin over a stupid exploding ball?!" she raged.

"You're almost done. Come on, finish up already! I didn't eat before I came in and I want my damn milkshake!" he complained. As if on cue, his stomach growled loudly. Fleur looked closer at him. He did have that edgy look he always got when he was hungry. Without another word, she took another ball out for her next shot. He noticed, with relief, that it was the last trick ball. 'Finally he might actually get to eat!'

She tapped the ball and watched as it rolled almost to the hole then tipped off and rolled into the water. She clenched her hands and gritted her teeth. It was all he could do to not fall over, laughing at her. She was so pissed off, it took her two more tries to get the shot. As he was waiting for her to finish up, he glanced over at the teens. He noticed the twins had rejoined the group and were holding another ball and pointing at Fleur. They saw him watching and pointed at the ball, then him and saluted.

That's when he knew they were about to launch a Scabior special at Fleur. He'd come up with that one on his own. Many a time, he'd launched that baby at an especially disliked girlfriend of Fen's. It was a cream ball filled with strawberry jam. He'd figured out how to coat it in a white chocolate hard shell. It actually looked like a golf ball at first. He moved to the other side of the clearing as he watched Hermione set the 'ball' on the tee and launch it at Fleur. She was concentrating on her last shot and had no clue what was coming her way.

SPLAT! It was beautiful to behold and he couldn't help but burst out laughing again as she started screaming incoherently. Strawberry jam slowly dripped off her face onto her sweater. The teens ran out, laughing, as she charged angrily after them. He followed them into the lobby, in time to see Fen walk in. As sure as Fleur saw him, she'd be filing a report on the kids. He decided to intercept and run a bit of interference.

He ran over to Fen and grabbed his arm, knowing they were watching warily. "FEN!" he screamed dramatically. Harry and Ron burst out laughing. They'd figured out what he was going to do.

Fenrir jumped as his little brother yelled at him. "Boy? Are you ok?"

"I didn't do it, Fen! Don't listen to her! She's crazy, man, crazy! I didn't do anything!" he wailed, hanging onto his brother for dear life. All four boys were almost in the floor laughing but inching their way to the door.

Fen stared worriedly at his brother. "O. K. What did you not do?" he carefully questioned Michael. He pointed at Fleur, rapidly approaching them. Fen turned and, before he could stop it, burst out laughing, "Oh, now, Michael! Normally, it's only my girlfriends you slime!"

"I didn't do it, I tell ya, I didn't!" Michael yelled. Hanging on to his brothers shoulders comically, he motioned them out the door.

"Alright, if you didn't, who did?" Fen asked, still sniggering. He'd recognized his little brother's handiwork from the many times his own girlfriends had met the wrath of Michael!

The boy flopped into the floor dramatically. "I don't know, Fen! I didn't see anything till it hit her, BANG!" He fake sobbed until he was sure they were out the door. Then Fleur was there shouting angrily, telling Fen the whole story.

Michael jumped up. "Well, I'm hungry. I'm going across the street to get some food and my milkshake!"

Fen was chuckling but taking down the story and waved him out. He practically ran across the street and walked in. They were seated at the same table as when he first saw them. As he drew even of them, he stopped, ran his fingers into her hair and leaned over, whispering into her ear. She smiled, laughed, then blushed red. He pecked her on the cheek and went on to the counter.


	2. Chapter 2family ties and a party

Family ties and a party.

Hermione receives an invite. Fen and Michael talk. Hermione and Michael meet at the party. What the devil is going on with Malfoy and Harry?! Stay tuned!

After leaving the golf shop, Michael raced across the street and reentered the shop. They were at the same table as before. As he passed them, he ran his fingers into her hair and leaned over. "That was absolutely brilliant, sweetheart! I loved that special effect at the end as well. I'm having a party at my house tomorrow night. Bring your boys, you're invited, make sure you wear another of these pretty little skirts, too." He pecked her on the cheek and went on to the counter. If he knew Fen as well as he thought, Fen would be making a beeline over here to ask more about that little incident. He didn't want to face any questions on an empty stomach.

A heavy arm draped over his shoulder. "So, what exactly was that? Did you piss off that little girl or something?" Fen asked curiously.

"Not me. Fleur. I suspect that was payback for her dumping those ginger's oldest brother at the altar a couple of years ago." Michael told him.

"Oh, ok." Fen was still sniggering as he put in his own order. After they received their food, they sat at a table with a clear view of the gingers and the little beauty. Michael noticed that, although the four boys were all eating heartily, she was just barely picking at her own meal.

"Mom was wondering if you'd be over soon. She's already got your room set up and all the ingredients ready for your favorite dessert. If you don't want to stay with the old man, you know you're more than welcome at the house, right?" he was startled out of his thoughts by Fen's question.

"I may take you up on that offer in a day or two but I'll stay there tonight and he actually agreed to go out somewhere so I can have a party tomorrow night. You're invited, by the way. So, enough about me. How are things in the world of Fen? Grapevine says you have a new girlfriend? And you didn't tell ME?" Michael poked at his older brother, laughing as Fen turned red and smiled.

"Her name is Dora and she works in the D. A.'s office. A receptionist but she's studying to be a lawyer. She has a son, a little boy. I haven't met him yet but she's crazy about him. She and the boy live with her mother. She watches the boy so Dora can work." Fen was smiling at the thought of his beautiful girlfriend. "You'd really like her, Mike. I wanna introduce her to you sometime, if that's ok with you." He was anxious for Dora and Michael to get along.

Seeing how seriously Fen was acting and realizing he might actually be serious about this girl, Michael tipped his head to the side. "That serious, huh? Tell you what, bring her to the party tomorrow night. I'll meet her then. So, mom is ready to make me some homemade fudge? I'll definitely be over soon." Fen noticed his little brother kept skipping around any talk of himself. He mentally sighed with frustration. 'The old man really did a number on the kid.' It saddened him to see how thoroughly the old man had beaten the trust factor out of his little brother. Michael would talk about anything but himself or his feelings. He hoped this little girl Mike had suddenly shown an interest in would be good to him. The boy couldn't take too much more loss in his life.

"Is she coming to the party?" he asked curiously, trying to see exactly how much Mike would even talk about her.

"She's invited, whether she shows up or not is up to her." Mike shrugged. He liked the girl but he wasn't about to go chasing all around after her. If she wanted to be caught, he'd be pleased to catch her. If not, no skin off his nose, there were plenty of other pretty girls in town, even the neighborhood. Fen looked around and saw the group watching him and Michael, a girl, a dark haired boy and three gingers. The same group who had just fled the golf shop. He waved at them cheerfully. They waved back warily.

"They probably think you're about to come over and arrest them!" Michael laughed.

"She wanted me to. Luckily I had too much experience of a certain little brother putting MY dates through hell to want to arrest them!" Fen replied. He had to laugh again, remembering Fleur with the remains of a Scabior special running down her face.

Michael sniggered. It was true, he'd been a total little snot to some of Fen's girlfriends. "In my defense, brother, I was right about every one of them. They weren't good for you. I'll reserve judgment on this one till I meet her."

They finished their meal and left going their separate ways: Fen to inform Dora of the party invite and meeting his little brother, Michael to buy the party supplies Fleur had distracted him away from.

Hermione and Harry walked in the door. Andromeda and Dora Tonks were there. They had little Teddy wrapped in a blanket. He was fussy and looked a bit red.

"What's wrong with Teddy?" Hermione went to hold him. Dora pulled him back. "He's feverish. Your mother is going to set him up with some Amoxicillin. She says it's just a little twenty four hour thing. This time tomorrow, he'll be wide eyed and bushy tailed again."

"Oh, Teddy bear, I hope you feel better tomorrow, sweetie." Hermione crooned to the little boy. He stared at her sleepily from his mother's arms. Dora smiled at her. She knew Hermione loved Teddy as much as she did. Nothing delighted her so much as being asked to babysit him. Just then, her phone beeped with a text. She listened as Hermione told her parents she and Harry had been invited to a party two houses over tomorrow night. Realizing who lived two houses over, she looked at the text. It was Fen, inviting her to the same party. His little brother was hosting it. Mr. and Mrs. Granger weren't too sure, having heard the unmistakable sounds of fighting over the years. Not only from there but also Harry's home before they managed to get him out of there.

"Jean, if you're worried about Hermione and Harry going to the party, I'll be there as well as Fen. It's his little brother having the party. I'm sure, between the two of us, we can keep them in line." She winked at Hermione, who smiled delightedly as her parents agreed. "Thank you!" the girl mouthed silently. Dora giggled and gave her a thumbs up.

Hermione and Harry went on up to their rooms. She had just dropped her keys into the candy dish on her desk and turned on her light when she heard a rattling sound on her window. She walked over, raised it and leaned out. Scabior stood down by the tree next to her window, two guys with him. She climbed out and slid to the edge of the overhang. Luckily, it was a flat surface.

"What are you doing?" she hissed as she poked her head over enough to peer at the front door. Through the window, she could still see her parents and the Tonks.

He jumped up and caught the lowest branch on the tree. Climbing up enough to reach her, he leaned over to her. Grabbing her chin, he kissed her. "Been waiting to do that all day. You gonna be at my party?" he whispered into her ear.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world now. No more Fleur?" Hermione wondered slyly. Michael laughed, quietly of course.

"No more Fleur. She was just a distraction, you know. I'll be waiting for you." He kissed her one more time, then climbed back down and waved goodbye. The two guys with him stared curiously at her before following him across to his house. She belatedly recognized them as Marcus Flint and Thorfinn Rowle, Flint being a senior but Thorfinn already being in college with him. She climbed back into her room and closed the window. She smiled to herself as she got ready for bed.

The next day, she was scheduled to work at the hospital. Molly was a CNA and had helped her get her CNA certification as well. Her mom and dad joked that they were keeping the medical profession in the family. Harry was going to spend the day with Ron and the twins so she had the car to herself. Now that she almost had Michael, she was getting jittery about this party. She called Pansy and Becky to go shopping after work. She wanted to get the perfect outfit to wow him tonight.

Mike woke up with a slight hangover. He, Thorfinn, and Marcus had been drinking for a while after he talked to her. They had teased him about his little high school girlfriend. He teased them, in turn, about the two little high schoolers who had caught their eyes. Marcus confessed that he was waiting until Pansy turned 18. Thorfinn was interested in finding out more about Becky. He rolled over and shielded his eyes from the sun pouring in his window. He sat up and listened. Hopefully, the old man was already out of the house. He just was not up for a knockdown drag out fight this early.

After hearing nothing, he got up and quickly took a shower. As he stood in front of his bathroom mirror, his old stash of Goth makeup caught his eye. He slowly smiled. He checked inside the cabinet and found some hair coloring. He laughed as he thought of how outraged the old man would be. He set to work with the hair coloring and makeup.

An hour later, he again looked in the mirror. Once again, he had jet black hair, wild and free. His eyes were perfectly lined and he had a cross earring dangling from his right ear. Around his neck was a thick, black leather choker with a small cross hanging from the center of it. He had dug into the back of his closet and found his black leather clothes. He couldn't wait for his little beauty to see him tonight. He walked out of his room and went downstairs. He walked into the kitchen and rolled his eyes at the sight of his father sitting there, reading the paper. He got himself some cereal and sat down. Ramon Scabior looked up, saw his son and scowled at his appearance.

"Damn it, boy! What the fuck have I told you about that damn makeup?! Are you a damn sissy boy?! Get the hell up those fucking stairs and wash that shit off!" his dad growled at him. Michael ignored him. The older man jumped up, walked around the table, grabbed his hair and yanked him out of the seat. Michael jabbed an elbow into his ribcage, hearing a satisfying pained grunt from the older man. "Get your damn hands off me, I'm not a scared child or teenager anymore. I'll beat the fuck out of you and leave you laying in the floor, you fucking bastard!" Michael snarled back at him. Ramon Scabior backed off. He was used to being the intimidator of the house. He suddenly realized his son was as big, if not bigger, than he was. For perhaps the first place in his life, he was afraid of the boy. He looked into the blue eyes so like his own and saw nothing but pure rage and hatred, all directed at himself. He let go of the boy's hair and backed away, his hands raised. "All right. All right. Do what you want, you fucking little punk! You get yourself thrown in jail, though, going out looking like that, don't call me for damn bail money!" he swung around, grabbed his jacket off the coatrack, and yanked open the back door. He threw a loathing look over his shoulder. "Try not to burn the fucking house down tonight!"

Michael stayed tensed up and ready to fight until he heard the old man's truck fire up and back out. He closed his eyes and let out his breath. 'Goddamnit!" it scared him at how eager he'd been for the old man to take just one swing at him! At this rate, it was like he'd told him. He would have beaten the fuck out of him and left him laid out. These feelings were what caused him to dance from girl to girl. He was afraid if he got serious about anyone, he'd turn into his old man. His mother had barely been able to socialize with the neighborhood women without his dad breathing down her neck. Every trip to the store, he was accusing her of meeting other men. When Michael was born, looking exactly like him, the old bastard still made them test him, just to make sure he was actually the father!

There was a knock at the door. He walked into the hallway and opened the door to reveal Thorfinn and Marcus, both looking slightly worse for wear after their night of drinking.

"Good lord, you two look like hell warmed over! Come on in, I'll fix you some coffee." He laughed. They both winced, covering their ears. He led the way back to the kitchen and set the coffeepot to brewing. They slumped at the table.

"Good to see you back, dude! We've been missing our Goth pal!" Marcus smiled. Thorfinn gingerly nodded. This was the Michael they'd grown up and gone to school with, not the preppy boy college had turned him into.

"So your old man is gone for the night?" Thorfinn asked eagerly. Michael nodded at him. Marcus noted that his face darkened slightly. "What happened before we got here? You and him get into it?"

"Yeah, he grabbed my hair, yanked me up. I elbowed him and threatened to kick his ass. He backed the fuck off and left." Michael gave them the short version of the story. "Also, if I happen to go out 'like this' and get myself arrested, I'll need bail money." He half joked.

Marcus shook his head at how stupid Mike's old man was and told him, "You need bail money, call me, I'll come down and get you out."

"Me, too, bud. Anytime, anywhere." Thorfinn said.

"Hells bells, Thorfinn, it wouldn't do for you to offer to bail him out, more than likely, you'd be right there beside him in the cell!" Marcus laughed at the blonde. Thorfinn rolled his eyes and shot a birdie at him. They laughed, joked and drank coffee until it was time to greet the guests.

Hermione had got off work and gone to the mall. Pansy and Becky met her there and the three walked down to Hot Topic. She already knew she'd be getting a new miniskirt ('no, she wasn't getting it because of him!') but she needed a shirt to match. They browsed all the clothes and then she saw it! It was perfect! It wasn't all leather hut that didn't matter. It was black and had a leather waistband. There was a strip of leather going down each side but the rest of the skirt was silk with a triple row of lacy ruffles, front and back. Best of all, there was a matching crop top and shirt to match! She bought the outfit, along with some thigh high stockings and boots with a stiletto heel. Pansy and Becky also bought new outfits, having been invited along by an older brother (Becky) and an older cousin (Pansy).

They all went back to Hermione's house to get dressed and ready for the party. Harry, Ron and the twins were also getting ready. The group of teens came down and started out the door. Hermione and Harry kissed their parents goodnight and rejoined their friends. They all walked across the lawn of Harry's old house. Hermione hugged him as he deliberately kept his eyes toward the street. As they entered Scabior's house, they were greeted by Marcus Flint and Thorfinn.

"And who all do we have here?" Thorfinn stretched an arm across the doorway. Marcus rolled his eyes and winked at Pansy, who giggled behind her hand. Hermione shook her head at his antics. "Thorfinn Rowle, meet Becky Selwyn, Pansy Parkinson, Harry Potter, Ron, Fred and George Weasley. I'm Hermione Granger."

Grinning wickedly at her, Thorfinn replied. "Very nice to meet all of you. Hello, Becky," he winked, "Long time, no see, darling." Becky smiled and blushed as he singled her out. They were directed to the living room where someone had started the music. Marcus caught Hermione's arm gently and leaned down. "Michael might be grumpy for a while. He and his dad had a bit of a tussle this morning. Rest assured, he's been looking forward to seeing you all day." He whispered to her. She nodded back at him.

Hermione walked into the room and spotted him almost immediately. She almost fainted with delight. He was back! Totally Goth again! She practically ran across the room. He turned around just as she reached him. He smiled and pulled her close. "Hello, beautiful. Love that outfit!" he led her to the middle of the room as they began slow dancing.

Harry and Ron watched them from across the room. Since it seemed like they might possibly dance all night, they turned their attention to the rest of the party. They weaved across the room to greet Dora and Fen.

"Looks like Hermione found Michael." Fen said, tipping his head in their direction.

"Yeah, she's been jumpy all day, waiting to get over here." Harry replied.

"He's been jumpy himself. Not sure if it was waiting for her or because of the old man, though." Fen was still angry after Michael let him know he'd definitely be staying with Fen and his mother the rest of the week. 'The damned old bastard just couldn't resist picking at the boy!' it made Fen want to beat the hell out of the old fogey himself!

Harry moved uneasily at hearing that. It reminded him too much of his own miserable childhood. Ron put a comforting arm around him. He knew what had gone through Harry's mind at Fen's comment. He was one of the very few who knew exactly what horrors Harry had faced as a child. He stroked the back of Harry's neck until he was calm again. They stayed near Fen and Dora for the next hour or so. Since they were the oldest ones there, though not by much, they were considered as chaperones by the rest of the partygoers.

The floor was extremely crowded with dancers by now. Harry and Ron had danced a couple of dances. They could see Hermione and Michael in the center, in their own little world. Marcus and Pansy had danced as had Thorfinn and Becky.

They hadn't realized how many more people had shown up and crowded into the house. They certainly hadn't noticed the blond boy who was watching them (or more specifically, watching Harry) from across the room. He normally didn't attend parties like these but he'd heard through friends that Harry had been invited along with his sister. It was too good of an opportunity for him to resist. Grabbing his best friend, he headed to the party. As they were both dressed completely in black, they actually blended quite well. He turned to his friend. "As soon as I have an opportunity to talk to him, you go distract Weasley." Sooner than he thought, his chance came when harry excused himself for a bathroom break.

"Be right back." Harry muttered to Ron as he slipped off to the bathroom, not noticing the blond boy watching him. Nodding towards Weasley, he started after Harry. As Harry wove his way through the crowd, the other slowly followed behind him. Rushing into the bathroom, he was finally able to ease the pressure off his kidneys. Leaning back, he closed his eyes. Had they been open, he would have seen who came through the bathroom door. As it happened though, he didn't. Two arms slipped around his waist and a head leaned onto his shoulder. He smiled. Ron never could resist an opportunity like this. As one hand slid under his shirt, the other slid down past his waist. Kisses were trailed from shoulder blade to his ear. He leaned his head onto the shoulder behind him. As the door opened again, his eyes popped wide open as he heard, "Harry?! What the devil are you doing with MALFOY?!"


	3. ruckus at the party

Ruckus at the party.

Malfoy makes a move. Hermione shows her fighting side. This triad was supposed to be either Scabior/Hermione/Rowle or Scabior/Hermione/ Flint. As it turns out, my muse didn't like that idea but she loved the thought of Draco/Harry/Ron! So an all-boys triad it will be!

As Harry whipped around, Ron lunged at Malfoy. "Get the hell away from him, you asshole! What the hell is your problem?!"

Malfoy ducked around behind Harry. "No problem here, Weasley. Just getting acquainted! You can expect to keep him all to yourself forever, you know?! Other guys want to know him!"

"Like who, you?! Thought you were all fixed up with Astoria! What's she have to say about her boyfriend, creeping on a guy?!" Ron growled.

"She knows the score. We're just friends!" Malfoy scowled.

"Does daddy know what you're doing, Malfoy?" Harry frowned as Ron asked that question. Lucius Malfoy was their vice principal. More than once, this year, Hermione and Harry had both been caught fighting. He'd placed both of them in ISS more times than they could count. He kept threatening to expel them but, just being vice principal, he could only recommend it. It was up to their regular principal to actually do it.

At the mention of his father, Malfoy actually paled a bit. Apparently, his dad DIDN'T have any clue about his son's interests. "Leave my father out of this, Weasley! This has nothing to do with him!"

"Why are you even HERE, Malfoy? Since when do you show up at parties like this? What, get tired of your normal parties, come to see how the freaks party? Isn't that what you called us at school the other day? And now here, YOU are?" Ron snorted at him.

Malfoy shrugged. "Maybe I did get tired of my old crowd, Weasley! What's it to YOU? I'm not here for you anyway!"

Just then, Blaise came bounding in. "Oh! Uh, sorry, Draco, he got past me before I could distract him!"

Draco glared at his best friend. "One job, Zabini! You had only ONE JOB tonight! ONE JOB!"

Blaise cringed, knowing he was in for a hell of a yelling once he and Draco left. "Sorry, man."

Their raised voices were starting to attract attention. Pansy was monitoring the situation from where she and Marcus were sitting. "What's going on, Pans, anything we need to alert Granger about?" he asked her. Pansy shook her head, "Not unless your friend wants a free for all right there in his bathroom. She and Malfoy despise each other. I'm frankly surprised both of them have lived this long. They've been fighting and scratching since the sixth grade, right after her parents adopted Harry! It's like she took away his favorite toy or something."

"His favorite toy? So he's been after Potter that long?" Marcus wondered. Pansy laughed. "No, he's been after Potter since first grade. She's been blocking his access to Potter since sixth grade! That's why they fight so bad. His dad has threatened both her and Harry time and again with expulsion for fighting with him at school."

"Where does the redhead come in at?" he prompted. Pansy smiled. "He and Ron are inseparable, it seems like. You never see one without the other. That's who Draco fought with before Hermione came into the picture. They both protect Harry like he's a little bear cub."

All at once Ron and Draco began punching at each other. Harry was trying to pull Ron back while Blaise was trying to get a grip on Draco. "Uh, oh!" Pansy exclaimed softly. "Now we go get Hermione!" they hopped up and went to the living room. Hermione looked so happy and comfortable, wrapped in Michael's arms, that Pansy hated to disturb her. However, if she didn't alert her to the situation, Hermione would be extremely upset.

"Hermione," Pansy leaned close and whispered to her. Hermione jerked away from Michael, eyes narrowing, and stormed off. Michael looked at Pansy, looked after Hermione, then followed her. Becky, who was sitting with Thorfinn, covered her eyes and groaned as she jumped up to follow them, Thorfinn on her heels. "Pansy, what's-?"

"Malfoy!" was all Pansy had to say.

"Ugh, that idiot!" she snorted as they hurried after Hermione. Flint was already chuckling as the two frat boys caught up with him. "Care to fill me in, Marcus?" asked Michael.

"You, my friend, are about to see what a firecracker your little girlfriend is." Flint shook his head in amusement. "Very possibly, you might recognize yourself in her. This is what Thorfinn and I had to keep control of before you were out of your old man's house and safely at college!"

Michael raised his eyebrows. By the time they made their way to the hall, they could hear Pansy and Becky directing Hermione to take the boys upstairs to have it out with them. Four unhappy boys trooped up the stairs, cringing at what came next. Hermione stomped up after them, followed by Pansy, Becky, Michael, Marcus and Thorfinn.

Downstairs, Fen had watched the little commotion with concern. "Do I need to go monitor that?" he asked Dora. "No, trust me, Hermione will have that whole thing straightened out in no time and be back down here, dancing soon."

Upstairs, the boys were pointed into the first room they came to, ironically Michael's bedroom. They stood in a very silent line, flinching as Hermione crossed her arms, tapped her toe and glared at them, menacingly! The frat boys leaned against the wall and prepared to enjoy the show. Pansy and Becky had both checked the bathroom cabinet to make sure there were bandages. They just knew someone was going to end up needing them!

The boys jumped as she suddenly spoke. "I want to know, right here, right now, why I was just dragged off the dance floor to find FOUR IDIOTS making a scene at my BOYFRIENDS PARTY, IN HIS OWN HOUSE!" her voice was shrill by the time she finished speaking. Michael was biting his knuckles to keep from laughing, 'yeah he could see why Marcus was so amused now!'

He didn't think she even realized she'd just waltzed them into HIS room. He reached down and grabbed a shirt off the floor. He very carefully draped it over her shoulder. After all, he didn't want that temper aimed at him! If she needed a weapon, the least he could do was make it non-lethal. Although, she possibly might try to strangle someone with it.

"Zabini!" the boy's eyes went wide in fear. "Why are you even here?! Is there something I need to tell Daphne next time I see her?!" he shook his head rapidly. "No! No, no, Granger, no! I was just," at her evil look, he finished weakly. "Um, supposed to be distracting Weasley? While Draco went after Potter? Hehehe." He smiled, trying to pacify her. Her eyes narrowed more and her hands twitched.

"Get. Out. Now. Into the hallway. Stay. There!" she very carefully directed him on his way. As he passed, she gripped the shirt draped over her shoulder and began slapping him with it, all the way out the door. Blaise yelped all the way into the hall. He leaned back in relief. 'Thank god, she hadn't killed him!'

The other boys were trembling by the time she turned back to them. She smiled sweetly. "Malfoy! Are we happy tonight? Did we cause enough of a racket? Hmmm?"

Malfoy looked as though he wanted to be anywhere but there. "Um, Granger! Huh, uh, fancy seeing you here?" he tried to pretend he hadn't known she would be here. Behind her, the frat boys snorted as Pansy and Becky face palmed.

Hermione bared her teeth at him in a truly scary way, then jumped at him, hitting him everywhere she could land a punch. Pansy held up a hand in warning as Michael straightened. Becky shook her head. "Best to let Hermione beat him up, at least a few minutes, before you pull her off of him. Let her blow off some steam at him. It'll teach him a lesson and calm her down quicker!" Flint told him. "That's what we do when they fight at school, then we try to hide her until Draco's dad gives up hunting for her!"

Michael conceded to them. They knew her a lot better than he did, right now. As he watched the little beauty beat the fuck out of the little Malfoy brat, she really did seem to be calming down. She gave him one last punch, then turned to the last two.

"Now! Ron Weasley! Exactly what were you thinking?! This is not your mother's house! You don't go to peoples parties and start fights in their bathroom, you moron!" as she screamed at him, she was slapping him continuously with Michael's shirt.

"Sorry, sorry, ouch, sorry, he was messing with Harry! Ow!" Ron didn't try to defend himself, merely covering his face as she kept swatting him. Harry, knowing she was near the end of her tirade, prepared himself to be swatted next.

"And you, Harry Potter! There's something you or Ron aren't telling me! What the devil are you two hiding?" she turned her attention to him. Harry looked her right in the eye and let out the secret he and Ron had been hiding from her. "Ron and I were thinking of inviting someone else into our relationship. And, uh, um," here he got really nervous, knowing Hermione was liable to blow her top and kill all three of them! "we, we were thinking of um, inviting uh, dracosincehesalwaysbeenaftermeanyway!"

Pansy and Becky were wide eyed with shock, the frat boys were laughing their asses off and Blaise was leaning into the room. "Damn, Potter! You took long enough telling her!" then gulped as Hermione whipped around to him, murder in her eyes! "You KNEW about this?! You didn't TELL me?!"

"Uh, well, it's not the type of thing a sister wants to hear from anyone except her brother, right, that he's thinking of inviting her worst enemy into his bed?" Blaise tried to defend his decision. She screamed and attacked him again with the shirt. He yelped again as she chased him back into the hallway. By this time, Michael was on the floor rolling, Marcus and Thorfinn both were holding the wall up as they all three died laughing! Harry was still waiting for the rest of his scolding and Ron was checking to make sure Draco was, in fact, still alive.

She stomped back in and stopped, directly in front of him. "Now! Tell me that again, SLOWLY. Then tell me why, if that's the case, were the four of you fighting?! Downstairs?!"

Harry took a deep breath. "Ron and I decided we were starting to get bored with just each other. We'd been thinking of just breaking up entirely. But we decided we valued our friendship too much to risk ruining it with a messy breakup so we decided to invite a third person into our equation. Since Draco has been after me so long, Ron decided he should be given first refusal. Instead he jumped at the chance. We hadn't formally invited him to join us yet. This was going to be our last solo date by ourselves. We weren't expecting him to crash the party and they forgot and lost their tempers downstairs."

Hermione tapped her foot again and crossed her arms again. "Never, ever try to hide a secret from me anymore, Harry Potter! I don't like this! Not one little bit, I'll have you know! But, since it isn't MY choice, I'll let the little ferret live! For now!" she blessed said ferret with a withering look. He shrank back away from her. "When we get back downstairs, you three will find a nice, quiet corner and STAY there the rest of the evening! You will NOT go to the bathroom in pairs or a group or I WILL kill all of you! Anymore funny business out of any of you three and, cop in the house or not," indicating she knew Fen was downstairs, "I'll kick all three of your asses in front of everyone! Understand?!"

The three miscreants nodded, thankful to still be alive. She smiled tightly at Draco. "One word of warning, ferret! You hurt Harry or Ron in any way, AT ALL, and there will not be a hole deep enough to hide from me and I WILL KILL YOU!" Draco looked as if he might faint in fear. Harry and Ron grabbed an arm each and pulled him from the room before Hermione changed her mind about killing him, then and there!

Pansy and Becky hugged her before pulling Marcus and Thorfinn from the room, leaving Hermione alone with Michael. Blaise had already hightailed it as soon as he was sure Draco wasn't going to die tonight. Hermione bowed her head and waited. She'd been dumped time and again after boys witnessed her temper in action.

Two firmly muscled arms wrapped around her as he pulled her close. He burrowed his face in her hair. He backed up until he hit the side of his bed. Then he sat down and held her on his lap. "Want to stay up here and fool around?" she burst out laughing. That was honestly the last thing she'd expected him to say! He stretched out on his bed and laid her down beside him. "May I just say, I'm impressed? You just sent Thorfinn back to high school! That's what he had to try and control until I went to college." He laughed. "My temper was every bit that bad the whole time I lived in this house. Once I was away from the old man, I started calming down."

She looked up at him. "I can usually keep my cool but I'm just so protective of Harry that anything involving him just sets me off. I've come close to being kicked out of school for fighting with Draco, usually because he's just picked on Harry!" she watched him closely as he raised up on one elbow, leaning over her. Her breath hitched as she felt one leg cross over both of hers. He ran his fingers into her hair, pulling it loose, tumbling it over her shoulders. He slid her hairpins into his pocket. "You'll get these back before you leave. For now, I just want to see your hair wild and free." He sat up and jumped off the bed, pulling her after him. "Fair warning to YOU, beautiful. Next time we end up in here, you might not want to count on leaving for a while."

He led her back downstairs where they went back to dancing, in the middle of the crowd.

"Malfoy!" was all Pansy had to say.


	4. Alex and vicky

Alex and Vicky

Have you ever loved a fancast so much, you just had to put it into other stories? Whether it was intended to be there or not? Yeah, I made a mistake picking this guy for my fan cast because now I stick Alex McKeon into every story I can get away with!

The sunlight shone through the half opened curtains and spread throughout the room. It was a fairly sized dorm room, one of the bigger ones available. As it was in the senior housing units, it was a private room, meaning the sleeping boy didn't have to worry about being discovered in his somewhat unconventional position!

Alex McKeon woke up feeling strange, like upside down strange. He blinked his eyes and realized he was staring at the back of his couch. As he attempted to straighten up, he realized he actually was upside-down. His head was hanging over the edge, his body was on the couch and his legs were hanging off the back of the couch. He groaned as he remembered the party last night. Exactly how wasted had he gotten?! Too much to put himself to bed, that's for sure!

"Sonofabitch!" he growled, remembering the history test he was scheduled to take in less than an hour. The same fucking test he hadn't done a single lick of studying for! His dad would KILL him if he flunked out of one of his best subjects! He was pretty sure he KNEW what the test was going to be about. All the same, he wouldn't put it past the old codger teaching the course to change the test up on them. It sure wouldn't be the first fucking time he'd pulled a switcheroo on them! 'Keeping them on their toes', old Dumbledore explained with that damned twinkle in his eyes!

"Vicky! She'll have notes! I'll see if I can borrow them right quick!" he thought of the girl he'd met at the start of the semester. The girl who had him wrapped around her finger but didn't realize it. At least, Alex hoped she didn't. His brain already turned to mush every time he was around the girl. He always managed to get himself into the worst jams around her.

He dragged himself upright, staggered into the bathroom and cursed when he realized some smart-ass had decided they needed to fucking die today and dyed his fucking hair pink! PINK! Fuck sake! He could already see this day was down the drain before it ever got started! He closed his eyes and opened them again. Nope! The fucking hair was still pink! He started breathing heavily. 'God, where the fucking hell was Mike when he fucking needed him?!'

Alex felt around, trying to find his phone and call Vicky. As he had on cargo pants, he finally found it in the lowest pocket near his ankle. He wrinkled his brow trying to figure out how it got down that low! He always kept it in his front pocket! Thanking his lucky stars she was on speed dial, he hit the button and waited for her to pick up. As the phone rang and rang, he grew impatient, "Come on! Come on, please pick up!"

"Alex, hey, how are you doing today? Did you make it back to your dorm ok? You were pretty drunk last night! How did you like your new color?" she giggled. His mouth dropped open and he saw red! No way, she did NOT just tell him she dyed his fucking hair PINK! 'Sonofabitch!' Then he realized he'd never told her why he hated the color pink. Of course, they never actually talked, either. He was usually too busy kissing her!

"New color?! You! You dyed my hair?! Pink! You dyed it PINK!" he growled. She laughed and said, "Well, you told me, if I won the bet, I could dye it any color I wanted and pink is my favorite color!"

"Where are-? Wait, what?! What bet?! Where are you? I need to talk you, now! A man's hair is his pride, you know! You don't just go dying that pride PINK!" he blustered. He didn't mind her dying his hair. He loved that she felt that comfortable around him, he just wasn't thrilled with the color she'd chosen! He fully intended to talk her into changing it to another color.

"I'm at the cafeteria. Did you study for the history test? If not, come on over, we can study together." She invited him to join her.

"Stay there! I'll be there in-uh, just stay there!" he told her as he hung up. He found clean clothes, took the quickest shower of all time and was running out of his dorm in less than ten minutes. He had his hoodie pulled up and bandanna tied around his hair. He sprinted across campus to the cafeteria and showed his student id. He looked around and there she was, with a group of her friends.

He went first to the salad bar and grabbed a couple of apples. Then he casually strolled over to her table. As he got closer, his eyes narrowed. He'd forgotten that this was a visitor's weekend. Her cousins were here. The boy, he didn't mind. He usually had a redhead with him and they went off to wander around. The girl, though, seemed determined to be a little cockblock! He never got any alone time with Vicky while the cockblock was here!

"Hey Vicky." He greeted, admiring her fuzzy pink sweater. 'Hey, just because he didn't like pink on himself! She was absolutely fucking adorable in pink!' he dropped into the booth beside her and reached one of the apples to her.

"Alex! There you are, I don't think I've ever introduced you to my cousins. This is Harry and Hermione. This is Harry's friend Ron." Alex barely glanced at them as he was introduced, though he did shake hands with both Harry and Ron. Hermione watched him warily. It made him wonder what she saw.

Hermione could have told him, he had a very expressive face. He clearly showed that he didn't like her being around when HE wanted to be around Vicky. Right now, though, he seemed to be acting a little bit weird. He was breathing heavily but Vicky had said he'd run thirty laps around the ballpark before without difficulty. A short sprint across campus was nothing compared to that. He looked slightly pale and preoccupied, his fingers tapping nervously on the table. Vicky had said he normally talked a mile a minute, cracking jokes and making snappy remarks about people. But he wasn't saying a word.

"Alex, guess who Hermione and Harry ran into yesterday. They went to a party last night, too." Vicky laid her hand on his arm and he jumped. "Alex? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, sweetie, uh, who was it?" he answered distractedly. He chanced a glance at her and smiled.

"Mike, they ran into Mike yesterday." She laughed. Alex jerked around at that, gazing wide eyed at the girl.

"Mike? Mike Scabior? He's back from State?!" Alex almost ran out but he forced himself to keep sitting. 'He had to get in touch with Mike! He'd know what to do!'

"Yeah, we met when he and Fleur played mini golf yesterday." Hermione, Harry and Ron all grinned slyly.

"Oh, I recognize that look! What'd you do?!" Vicky squealed.

"Oh, well, let's just say Fleur got paid back slightly for dumping Ron's oldest brother, Bill." Hermione laughed. Alex cocked a brow. 'Hm, maybe the girl wasn't as uptight as she looked!'

"Right after that, he invited us to his party. Possibly, it might have partly been for Fen. Isn't his birthday sometime this week? That's why Mike came in, I'm pretty sure." Hermione watched Alex closely. He had perked up when she mentioned Mike. He must have been one of Mike's friends here before he went to State.

"Mike's on spring break, then. Fen's birthday is the last day of spring break. They always have a party at the first of the week and end it with a party at his mom's house. Damn, I can't believe I forgot about that!" Alex lamented.

"You've been cramming all last week and needed a break last night." Vicky poked at him. He turned to her.

"You mentioned a bet I lost. What was that about?" he was curious to know what had earned him this god awful pink hair.

"We were quizzing each other about the history test. I think you were drinking Wild Turkey and I was sticking with wine coolers. Then one of your friends, Murphy, came up with a drinking game. Every time you got an answer wrong, you took a shot of Turkey, every time you got an answer right, you took a shot of tequila." She laughed as Alex groaned. Now he knew why he'd ended up with pink hair! He was going to KILL Murphy!

"That explains why I woke up draped over my couch like a fucking Christmas turkey. Murphy knows better than to let me mix Turkey and tequila! Nothing good ever happens!" Alex looked down at her plate and flinched as he saw the ketchup there. He was starting to see little chunks of pink everywhere! He had to get to Mike! Mike knew how to calm him down and he'd know how to get this PINK out of his fucking hair!

"Which question did I miss?" he knew he had to have missed one. It was the only reason he'd have ended up with pink hair.

"You got all but one of them right. The very last question was the simplest one. Who was the Trojan War fought over?" she laughed as he looked disgusted with himself.

"Helen of Troy? I missed the simplest fucking question? Helen of fucking Troy?!" Alex covered his eyes. 'Oh, Murphy was SO FUCKING DEAD! Seriously, the dude was going to DIE!'

"Is Mike at his house or Fen's, do you know?" he looked at the little cockblock, Hermione?

"The last time I saw him, he was still at his dad's house. That was this morning. He met me and Harry at my car and said he'd see me this evening." Hermione told him. Alex pulled out his phone and pulled Vicky close, absently kissing her as he speed dialed Mike's house.

"See you later, babe. I gotta yell at Mike for not letting me know he was back." He grinned mischievously at her. He slid out of the booth and walked outside.

"Scabior residence." A gravelly voice answered. Alex frowned in confusion. 

"Is Mike there?" he assumed he was talking to Mike's dad.

"No, he isn't. Did you wanna leave a message?" the gravelly voice asked.

"Uh, no, I just really needed to talk to him. If he comes back soon, tell him McKeon called. He'll know who I am." Alex answered. He frowned again as the phone was abruptly dropped into the receiver. That hadn't really sounded like Mike's dad but it had been a while since he'd talked to Mike's dad!

He decided to try Fen's number. He dialed their house. "Grey residence, Mary speaking."

He knew Mary was Fen's mom and the closest thing Mike had to a mom. "Hey, Mrs. Grey. This is Alex McKeon. I'm one of Mike's college friends. He wouldn't happen to be there, would he?"

"Yes, he is but he's still asleep, dear. I can go wake him up, though." Mary offered.

"No. No. No need for that. Could you please tell him to call McKeon as soon as he wakes up?" Alex asked politely.

"I certainly will. Are you and Mike close friends? His brother has a birthday coming up. You can come to the party if you want to, dear." Mary invited him.

Alex smiled. Mary was just as friendly and motherly as Mike had said. "Thank you, Mrs. Grey. I wouldn't miss it for the world."

After hanging up, he leaned against the building. He took deep breaths and resolved to NOT look into any reflective surface. 'If he didn't see it, then he wouldn't know he had pink hair.'

He headed over to the History department. No doubt, Vicky and the cockblock would be there soon. He really needed to stop calling the girl that! Vicky hated it and the last time he'd slipped up and said it in front of her, she'd almost taken his head off with a surprising little right hook! It had taken him two weeks to get back in her good graces that time!

Hermione, Harry and Ron stayed with Vicky until lunch. The boy, Alex, turned up for their history test and looked nervous and distracted all through it. Vicky was worried about him. "History is his best subject. He can't afford to get a bad grade. This is what his scholarship is based on!"

"I'm sure he's ok, Vicky. Look, he's concentrating on the test. He just keeps picking at that bandanna, for some reason." Hermione reassured her.

"Hermione," Vicky gasped. "That's it! He's mad at me because I dyed his hair! Oh, god, why did I do that? That's what it is, Hermione, he's angry! At me! And he's going to fail his History exam because he's too mad at me to concentrate!"

"Vicky, snap out of it! He's not mad at you, at least, not for dying his hair. From what I've seen, very possibly he might be mad about the color? Maybe?" Hermione ventured a guess. "Listen, when I meet up with Mike, I'll tell him about you and Alex, see what he says? He might have some insight that we don't have. I'll feel him out about Alex and having his hair dyed, too."

Hermione reminded Vicky that she was coming to Hermione's house later on to help Hermione, Pansy and Becky put highlights into their hair. Hermione told her they might even drag Harry and Ron and possibly Malfoy in as well. Vicky was intrigued, having heard Hermione bitching time and again over the years about Malfoy. Hermione explained, unhappily, about the boy being both Harry and Ron's new love interest.

After lunch, Vicky went to make sure she had everything she need and gathered all her supplies together. Hermione, Harry and Ron headed home, picking up Pansy and Becky along the way. They stopped in for a milkshake and saw Dora. She was going to surprise Fen and Mike by taking their favorite shakes over to Mary's house. Apparently, after Hermione, Dora and the boys left, Fen, Mike and the others had decided to continue the party and all ended up at Fen's.

Dora impulsively asked them if they wanted to stop by with her, meet Fen's mother. They all headed over. Mary answered the door with her hand clapped over her mouth, giggling. She led them into the living room.

After Hermione and her friends, the boys and Dora left, Fen had stayed. Mike, Fen, Marcus and Thorfinn had started drinking Wild Turkey. Mike had started to call Alex McKeon but wasn't sure if the boy still went to school down here. He very well might have transferred back to some Fancy Dan school up in New York. After Ramon Scabior rolled in around five am, they left and went to Fen's favorite bar, the Riot. There, they had quickly gone from Wild Turkey to vodka to Long Island Iced Tea. After that, Mike wasn't sure. He thought there might have been a cab ride at some point but wasn't going to swear on it.

Mike and Fen were asleep at opposite ends of the couch. Fen was on his back, one of Mary's couch cushions completely covering his face. Mike was facedown and half sprawled over his brother. Marcus had apparently been aiming for an arm chair, the arms of which he was draped across as limply as a cat. Thorfinn had actually managed to crawl his way into a recliner, though it was the first time Mary had ever seen one sat in upside down!

Mary had a video camera, filming every bit of it. She said it would be excellent blackmail material should Fen or Mike step out of line the rest of the week! They began coaxing the boys awake. Thorfinn was easily the first one awake after Becky waved a plate of bacon near his face. Marcus woke up after Pansy rubbed his back, holding him to keep him from falling in the floor. That left the two couch sleepers. Just then, Fen groaned and shifted. Mike jumped, easily startled even in his sleep, and tumbled into the floor.

Fen, hearing the thump, sat up, holding his head. "Mike? Where are you, Mike?"

An arm weakly raised and waved from in front of the couch. "Right here." He groaned.

"What you doing down there, boy?" Fen asked, reaching down for Mike.

"Dunno! I was asleep, then I was awake, down here." Mike answered grumpily.

They heard laughter and looked up to see Mary filming them. They groaned in unison, knowing they had probably done something stupid! They were gob smacked as they realized Hermione and Dora were there as well. Hermione took Mike's beloved strawberry shake to him as Fen scooted over to make room for Dora.

"Andy have the baby?" Fen asked her. Dora nodded as she leaned against him. "Mom wants me to invite you and Mary to supper tonight. Mike and Hermione can come over as well."

"I'll need to ask mom but I'm sure it'll be fine." Hermione told her. She looked at Mike. "I met an,,, interesting friend of yours this morning. From the local university. I didn't know you'd gone to school here, then transferred. He seems quite different than how he was described to me."

"Who would that be, sweetie?" Mike took a long sip of his shake and sagged, sighing adoringly as he cradled the drink. Everyone laughed at him.

"You know, if I didn't know I was more fun, I'd almost be jealous of that milkshake!" Hermione laughed.

Mike smiled. His love of strawberry milkshakes was practically legendary around here.

"Anyway, the friend. His name is Alex, Alex McKeon." Hermione watched as Mike perked up at that name. It was almost exactly same reaction Alex had shown.

"Ally? You saw Ally? Damn, I wish now I had called him last night!" Mike grinned.

"You might not have got ahold of him. Apparently he and my cousin Vicky were at a party last night, too. I think they must have been playing a drinking game. They made a bet and he lost." She told Mike who didn't seem surprised.

"Did he say what he was drinking? He lost, you say. Hmmm, it had to be Turkey and tequila, then. It's the only time Alex loses a bet! Those are the only two alcohols Alex can't mix and still function on. Any other combo and he's good to go!" Mike laughed as he remembered some of the craziness he and Alex had gotten up to before his dad made him transfer to State. He needed to call Alex, it had been a while.

Especially now that he was finally old enough to sign for his own financial aid! He was coming back home, whether the old man liked it or not! He'd already filled out all of his paperwork to transfer back. That reminded him. "Mary, you ready to take in a prodigal son? I'm coming back home and I'm not going to the old man's house, unless I just have to!"

"Mike, you know I am! I have your room set up and everything. I've been hoping for a while now that you were ready to come back to us." Mary assured him. She blinked back tears of happiness. It didn't matter that she hadn't given actual birth to this boy. He was still her baby!

"So, what happened when he lost the bet? What were they even doing that he lost the bet?" Mike looked at her.

"They were studying for a History test and he had to take a shot of tequila every time he got a right answer. He missed the very last one, the simplest one and he lost. Then Vicky dyed his hair pink." Mike lost his easy grin at that.

"What? She dyed-? No. Please tell me you did NOT just say she dyed his hair PINK?" Mike looked at her sternly.

"Um, yeah. That's her favorite color so that's what color she dyed it." Hermione didn't see the problem.

"Oh, god. Oh god, this is not good, not good at all!" Mike was suddenly dead sober. "Did you tell him you knew me? Did he say anything?"

"Yeah, he wanted to know if you were home or here. I think he might have tried to call you." Hermione was puzzled.

"Oh, that reminds me, Mike. He did call here earlier. You were still asleep. He told me not to wake you but he needed to speak to you when you got up." Mary told him. Mike lunged for his jacket. Hoping against hope that Alex hadn't changed his cellphone number, he hit speed dial.

"Come on, Ally! Pick up, pick up!" he muttered, grasping his hair.

"Mike? That you?" a low voice spoke into the phone. Mike closed his eyes in relief. Alex was freaked out to hell and back but, damn, he was alive!

"Alex? Hey, bud, where are you? Can I come over?" they all stared at Mike, speaking gently as though the boy on the other end was a wild animal.

"I'm in my dorm room. She turned it pink, Mike, she turned my hair pink! I can't,, I gotta,, please man, you gotta help me get this pink outta my hair!" Alex whimpered.

"No worries, Alex, I'm on my way over right now. Your door unlocked? Just hang tight. Get your favorite blanket and get in the corner. I'll be there before you know it. Can you do that for me, Alex?" Mike jumped up, putting his jacket on.

"Yeah, favorite blanket,, yeah, doors unlocked." Alex answered distractedly.

"Ok, I'm on my way, bud!" Mike hung up, much as he wanted to stay on the line with Alex. He turned to Hermione. "I need you to get your cousin on the line. You need to see if there's any color except for fucking pink that she would like to dye his hair! I can't tell you why, it's not my secret, but Alex despises the color pink on himself. He doesn't mind dying his hair but NOT THAT COLOR!"

Hermione's eyes widened. It all made sense now. The boy's jittery, nervous appearance and behavior! It was all due to having pink hair! "Vicky is coming over to my house shortly. Pansy, Becky and I are going to highlight our hair. Go get Alex. Bring him to my house. I'll talk to Vicky. We'll get him sorted out with a new color, one he'll like better, ok?"

Mike pulled her to the door with him. He kissed her and left to go get Alex. Hermione got Vicky on the phone. "Vicky, hey, sweetie! I've just learned something interesting about your boyfriend, Alex. No, no, sweetie, I told you this morning, it wasn't the actual hair dying he minded. Yes, it was the color. Apparently Alex has some issues with the color pink. He'd probably take any other color you wanted to use, though. Yes, just not pink! All right, Mike has gone to get him. They're meeting us at my house. See you there, love you!" she put her phone up and then she got everyone else mobilized and moving to the door. She went back, hugged Dora, Fen and Mary and told them she and Mike would see them later.

Mike didn't have his car and he didn't see Fen's car anywhere so he called a cab. He knew Alex had a motorcycle they could ride back to Hermione's house. He paid the driver and ran up the walkway. He nodded at a couple of girls coming out as he went into the dormitory. He quickly found Ally's room. Sure enough, he twisted the knob and it easily opened.

"Alex? Ally? Where are you?" he checked the corners of each room, wishing he'd specified which corner of which room to hide in. Finally he found him in the furthest corner from the door, in his bedroom. He approached the other young man as if getting near a feral cat. "Ally. It's me, Mike."

Alex, completely covered by the blanket, peeked out to make sure. "Mike! Look, look at this!" he pulled his hood back and the bandanna off. Sure enough, his hair was a bright bubblegum pink color. The innocent color contrasted greatly with the freaked out expression on the boy's face. He pushed himself to his feet and grabbed the hair, as if he was about to rip every last strand out!

"Ally, come on." Mike picked up the bandanna. "We're going to get this fixed. Come with me." He helped Alex get the bandanna on and hood pulled back up. Then he led him out of the dorms and down to his motorcycle. "Do you want me to drive?" Alex nodded, in his current state, he was liable to wreck and kill them both.

They hopped on and Mike fired the bike up. It didn't take him long to vacate the campus and head over to Hermione's. He pulled up in her driveway, Alex pointing out Vicky's car with a smile. "So, this girl, Vicky, you like her? Is it serious?"

With a goofy grin on his face, Alex looked at him. "I think it is, man. Every time I see her, my brain just goes mushy. I want to be near her all the time, you know? Don't even have to be touching or anything, I just want to be close to her."

Mike smiled. It was good to see Alex this happy. He led him up the steps to the Grangers front door. Hermione was waiting for them. Mike had just barely registered her presence there when Alex yelped, "Ah! The cockblock!" Mike looked away, biting his lip as Hermione narrowed her eyes. "I take it you two have met before?" he barely kept from sniggering.

"Yes, we have. Hello, Alex. Vicky is inside." Alex practically dove through the door. Vicky walked into the living room. "Alex! Oh, my god, sweetie! I'm so sorry! I didn't know you didn't like pink!" Alex grabbed her into a tight hug and kissed her. "No worries, I never told you! Just, please, anything but pink?"

"How about a teal blue, to match your lovely eyes?" she smoothed a hand across his brow, realizing she didn't like seeing him frown. She much preferred his beautiful smile. She wasn't disappointed as he smiled hugely at the thought of blue hair.

He followed her into the bathroom. As she was washing his hair in preparation for removing the pink, he asked her, "How the fucking hell did you get me to stay still the first time around?"

"Actually, you were passed out the first time. Murphy carried you into the bathroom and helped you stay up. You stayed awake just long enough to hear me tell you I was dying your hair. But you passed out before I could tell you what color I was dying it. I wish now I'd waited until today to dye it. You wouldn't have had to be in a panic most of the day." She washed the shampoo out of his hair as she prepared to start removing the pink.

In the living room, Hermione was describing how Alex had looked and behaved that morning. Now that she knew his aversion to the color pink, she realized he had displayed symptoms of a panic attack. Something had happened in his past involving that color. She just hoped he would trust Vicky enough to tell her. He really seemed into Vicky. She told Mike as much.

She, Pansy and Becky had all the colors picked out by the time Vicky led Alex back into the living room. Vicky came in first. Clearing her throat, she announced, "Introducing the one and only, Alex McKeon!" He bounded into the room, laughing and happy. Hermione ducked over and whispered to Harry, who nodded approvingly.

"Alex, there's a contest going on at the Riot tonight. Harry, Ron and Draco would like to take you as their entry. It's a cosplay contest featuring anime characters. They think, with that teal blue hair, you'd be the perfect person to play their favorite Bleach character."

"I dunno, Hermione, isn't it?" he asked, sitting on the coffee table in from of her. "Who's the character I'll be playing? Is he badass?"

"The character is Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez. He's our favorite bad guy from Bleach. With that hair and those eyes, you can easily play the part!" Hermione swore.

Alex glanced at the boys. They were watching him hopefully. "Well, hell. Can't disappoint my fans, right?" the boys cheered. Finally they had an entry they were sure would win!


End file.
